Cabinet with shelf supported plastic drawer

ABSTRACT

A cabinet assembly includes a lightweight plastic drawer and a housing having an internal shelf extending most of the way from the front to the back slideable of the housing. The drawer is seated on and slideably over the length of the shelf within the housing.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cabinet assembly including one ormore lightweight plastic drawers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Over the last few years there have been developments with respect tomanufacturing of cabinet assemblies with a plastic construction. Theseplastic cabinet assemblies are substantially less costly than the wellknown wooden and steel cabinets. However, the relatively new plasticdesigns in cabinets have a much less formal appearance and are notnearly as sturdy in construction as the older wooden and steel cabinets.

Another drawback associated with known plastic cabinets is that theplastic drawers often have a tendency to jamb in their supportingplastic housings. This is because in most known plastic cabinets thedrawers have sideway protruding top edges which fit into tracks toopposite sides of the housing. There must be relatively tight tolerancebetween the fit of the drawer edges with the tracks in order ensure thatthe drawers do not inadvertently release from the housing. As a resultof the required tight tolerance the drawer can often get stuck whenpulling it out or pushing it in to the housing.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention comprises a cabinet assembly including alightweight plastic drawer and a housing having an internal shelfextending from the front towards the back and side to side of thehousing. The drawer is slideably seated on the shelf. The shelf providesall vertical support for the drawer within the housing. As such, thedrawer does not have to be tightly fitted with the housing in order tomaintain a non-releasing slide contact with the housing. The drawertherefore slides easily in and out of the housing.

As a further preferred feature of the invention the drawer has a frontface with a finger grip pull molded into the front face of the drawer.This eliminates the need for a separate snap on handle to be added tothe drawer.

The finger grip pull can be molded in a manner to give the front face ofthe drawer a much more high-end professional appearance.

According to an aspect of the invention, only the drawer itself has aplastic construction while the housing is made from a differentmaterial. This material may have a higher grade appearance than theplastic of the drawer and preferably is a much heavier material than theplastic drawer material. This further adds to the more formal appearanceof the cabinet assembly and further adds to the overall stability of theassembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above as well as other advantages and features of the presentinvention will be described in greater detail according to the preferredembodiments of the present invention in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet assembly according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a further perspective view of the cabinet assembly of FIG. 1with one of the drawers pulled partially out of the housing;

FIG. 2 a is a sectional view along the lines 2 a-2 a of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the cabinet assembly of FIG. 1showing the top drawer in an outwardly pulled position and the secondtop drawer in a fully housed position;

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the cabinet assembly of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of a cabinet assembly according to afurther preferred feature of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THEPRESENT INVENTION IN WHICH

FIG. 1 shows a cabinet assembly generally indicated at 1. This cabinetassembly includes a plurality of lightweight plastic drawers 3 supportedby a housing 5. in this preferred embodiment housing 5 and specificallythe material used to make housing 5 is substantially heavier than thelightweight plastic construction of drawers 3.

FIG. 3 of the drawings shows one of the key features of the presentinvention. In particular, FIG. 3 shows that cabinet 5 includes aplurality of internal horizontal shelves 11 which are supported fromopposite sides of the cabinet. In the embodiment shown these shelvesextend across a majority of the front to back depth of the cabinet. Theshelves as shown do not extend to the back wall 12 of the cabinet.However, even when the drawers are in their fully closed position asrepresented by the second to top drawer in FIG. 3 they do not tip off ofshelves 11. This is because they are sandwiched between the supportingshelf on which they are seated and a corresponding upper shelf forseating a higher drawer. In the case of the top drawer it is sandwichedbetween its supporting shelf 11 and the top wall 9 of the housing.

A further aspect of the preferred feature shown in FIG. 3 is that thebottom wall 22 of the drawer is clear of any downwardly extendingcatches or the like allowing the drawer to freely slide along shelf 11.

Drawers 3 are extremely easy to push into their closed positions andthen pull out to the open position as represented by the top drawer inFIG. 3. This figure also shows that the drawer without pullingcompletely out of the housing opens so far that the full open top of thedrawer is accessible.

The drawer is prevented from being completely pulled out of the housingdue to the provision of a tab or peg 41 which extends through the opentop of each drawer. In the case of the top drawer peg 41 is embedded inthe top wall 9. In the case of all drawers below the top drawer the peg41 is embedded into the shelf 11 above the drawer. As will be seen withrespect to the top drawer shown in FIG. 3 the peg 41 interferes with theback wall 23 of the drawer when the drawer is pulled open. This preventsthe drawer from being completely pulled out of the housing. As can alsobe seen in FIG. 3, the upper edge of back wall 23 of the drawer includesa U-shaped return 23 a. This U-shaped return extends completely aroundthe upper edge of the drawer and has particular importance inreinforcing the back wall where it impacts with peg 41. This addsfurther to resistance to the drawer pulling out of the housing.

FIG. 5 of the drawings shows another embodiment of the invention inwhich housing 5 is replaced with a housing 5 a. Housing 5 a issubstantially identical to housing 5 with the exception that it does notinclude a housing back wall. As can be seen in FIG. 5 the rear ofhousing 5 a is completely open.

The same drawers 3 are fitted between the sidewalls 7 of housing 5 a.The drawers are slideable relative to housing 5 a in a manner identicalto that already described.

When working with housing 5 a each of the pegs 41 again prevents thedrawers from pulling forwardly out of the housing. In addition the pegsprevent each of the drawers from being pushed rearwardly out of thehousing. This feature can once again be well seen with respect to FIG. 3which shows that peg 41 in the second to top drawer interferes with thefront wall generally indicated at 25 of drawer 3 when the drawer ispushed completely into the housing.

As will be appreciated from all the description above, the pegs 41determine the full outward pull of the drawers and also determine thefull inward pushing of the drawers.

In order to fit the drawers in to the housing the drawer are fittedwithout pegs 41 are removed from the housing. After the rear wall ofeach of the drawers has moved rearwardly in the housing beyond the peginsertion position the peg is simply pushed up into a pre-made hole inthe housing for receiving the peg. The drawers are now slideably trappedin the housing.

In order to completely remove any one of the drawers it is a simplematter of gaining access to the appropriate peg for pulling it out ofthe housing and then removing the drawer.

Slideability of the drawers relative to the housing is greatly enhancedfor a number reasons. The drawers do not have to tightly fit with tracksor guides and therefore have a somewhat loose fit in the housing. thefit is not so loose as to be sloppy. It is simply loose enough toprevent jamming of the drawer with the housing. Sole vertical supportfor each drawer is provided by its under shelf 11. The drawers cannotfall off of the under shelf and therefore do not need to be tightlyfitted with guide tracks or the like along their upper edges.

There is an extremely low friction contact between each of the drawersand its respective support shelf. This low friction contact occursfirstly because of the slippery nature of the plastic used in formingthe drawers. In addition, each of the drawers is provided on its bottomwall 22 with a plurality of spaced apart downwardly extending runners 22a as seen in FIG. 2 a of the drawings. The drawer as shown in thepreferred embodiments has a one-piece molded construction and therunners 22 a are part of this molded construction. The runners providelocalized glide surfaces for the drawer to run along the drawer's flatsupport shelf.

A further feature which makes the drawers extremely easy to sliderelative to the housing is the substantial weight difference between thedrawers and the housing. In the preferred embodiment as described abovethe drawers are made from the lightweight plastic material while thehousing is made from a heavier material and preferably a non-plasticmaterial. In the embodiment as shown, housing 5 is made from a woodenmaterial. This wooded material is much heavier than the lightweightplastic used in forming the drawers and therefore makes the housingextremely stable. The drawers easily pull out of the housing withessentially no movement of the housing itself.

The drawers formed from the lightweight plastic material are noticeablydifferent in appearance from the housing. This makes it very easy todistinguish what constitutes the drawer and what constitutes the housingwhen grabbing each one of the drawers to pull it outwardly. Furthermore,the wooden construction of the housing gives the overall cabinetassembly a much more high end appearance than for example a prior artcabinet assembly in which the housing is made from the same plasticmaterial as the drawer.

Other materials can also be used in constructing housing 5. For example,a heavier housing can be made using steel or even an aluminumconstruction. When working with the wood construction it is preferablyprovided with some type of a wood grain exterior. A steel or aluminummaterial can be given a brushed or other decorative exterior appearance.All of these add to the higher end nature of the cabinet assembly.

As a further feature of the invention, adding both to the ruggedness andthe esthetic appeal is the method used to form the front wall 25 of eachof the drawers 3. This can best be seen having reference to the closeddrawer shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings.

More specifically, the front wall 25 of each of the drawers 3 isactually the front face of the drawer. This face is formed by a firstflat major face region 27 which extends downwardly over most of theheight of the front face of the drawer. The rest of the front face ofthe drawer consists of a much more limited second lower face region 29.Face region 29 is recessed rearwardly of the upper face region 27. Ashort horizontal step 31 extends between face regions 27 and 29. Faceregion 27 includes a lower lip 33 which drops downwardly past step 31.This produces a bottom opening recess 35 between face regions 27 and 29.As will be best seen having reference to FIG. 2 of the drawings recess35 which provides an integral finger grip pull extends completely acrossthe front of the drawer.

As will be appreciated in looking at FIG. 3 the front face features ofdrawer 3 are all part of the one-piece molded construction of thedrawer. This produces the benefit that without a complete breakage ofthe entire front wall of the drawer the finger grip pull always remainsintact. It cannot be pulled off of the drawer. In addition, the frontface of the door has a very neat finished appearance adding once againto the esthetic appeal of the cabinet assembly.

Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention havebeen described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that variations may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the appended claims.

1. A cabinet assembly comprising a lightweight plastic drawer andhousing having an internal shelf on which the drawer is slideablyseated, said shelf having a length which spans a major portion of frontto back depth of said housing and said drawer being slideable over thelength of said shelf, said shelf providing full vertical support of saiddrawer within said housing.
 2. A cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1wherein said drawer has a front face with a finger grip pull molded intosaid front face of said drawer.
 3. A cabinet assembly as claimed inclaim 2 wherein said drawer has a one-piece molded construction.
 4. Acabinet assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said one-piece moldedconstruction includes a bottom wall of said drawer, said bottom wallincluding downwardly projecting bottom ribs which make localized contactwith said shelf and provide low friction slide runners for said draweron said shelf.
 5. A cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein saidfront face of said drawer has first and second vertically orientatedface regions which are laterally offset from one another, said fingergrip pull being located between said first and second face regions ofsaid front face.
 6. A cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 5 whereinsaid first face region is located above said second face region, saidsecond face region is laterally offset rearwardly of said first faceregion and said finger rip pull comprises a bottom opening recessdirected upwardly behind said first face region in said front face ofsaid drawer.
 7. A cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein saidfirst face region occupies a major portion of said front face of saiddrawer.
 8. A cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein said fingergrip pull extends completely across said front face of said drawer.
 9. Acabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing is made froma material different from and heavier than the plastic of said drawer.10. A cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 9 wherein said housing s madefrom a wooden material which is visibly distinctive of said drawer. 11.A cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing includes apanel above said drawer, said panel being provided with a downwardlyprojecting tab which extends into said drawer and which provides adrawer movement limiter.
 12. A cabinet as claimed in claim 11 whereinsaid drawer has a back wall spaced rearwardly from said front face by aninterior drawer space, said tab projecting into the interior spacebetween the back wall and the front face of the drawer.
 13. A cabinetassembly as claimed in claim 12 wherein said housing has an open frontside and an open back side, said tab blocking said drawer from beingpushed rearwardly out of said housing and blocking said drawer frombeing pulled forwardly out of said housing.